Profile: Karen White

Director of Working Families Program

Staff

Karen White is director of the Work and Family Programs at the Center for Women and Work and is responsible for the center’s research, outreach, and education on family-friendly workplace policies. Karen is a leading expert on policies such as paid family leave and has been an invited participant in national dialogues, including a White House initiative on this topic. She holds positions on several boards and committees, including the executive board of the Union of Rutgers Administrators, AFT.

Current projects include research and analysis of state and national policies and programs that assist working poor families to achieve economic self-sufficiency, including family leave insurance, earned sick days, healthcare, and the minimum wage.

Recent research publications include "Paying for College: Availability of Need-based Financial Aid for NJ’s Working Adults" (co-authored with Mary Gatta and Heather McKay), and “Economics and Politics of Work-Family Policies: the Case for State Family Insurance Program” (co-authored with Eileen Appelbaum).

Prior to joining the Center for Women and Work, Karen worked at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC.